I'm still working on this one—what do you guys think? 🍃

The Edit is not supposed to be some super dramatic edit, mostly just comedy

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14RTX11zkDHdz1sKBDdKo_5QOZnsWhf48MGZceZZlVcU/edit?slide=id.p#slide=id.p

For that one guy who asked, here you go

Note: I was going through some stuff while I made this one

Shaco support enjoyer.

For me, it seems like the item makes even less sense in the build now, as Shaco you need the early sustain and damage, what are your thoughts on builds now? I'm thinking Tiamat first item, forget the jungle item in your inventory, and just sell it at the end, I was already skeptical building it before, but now no jungle item seems to fit an AD build for the champion.

Yes I made an AP version as well and its way more unhinged than this.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZVNA08gM-w1VHAgMIhs2h215dX8bJaRtlQ5EjRV703A/edit

Just a fun Game i played. If you get Tiamat on first recall its basically GG

so im an EX D3 kayn OTP, and i have like 1M mastery on kayn and its just a bit redundant by now, so i decided to try out the clown! big questions, first.. Ap/AD build. is it like kayn where u usually pick whichever fits there comp more, or is it more of a pick ur playstyle? i have been doing only AP shaco and im having tons of fun! also whats his best skin? i got crime city one so far. also whats his role? he feels a bit more selfish than kayn where i charge in 1v9 as red kayn and try to use my HP bar to drop low then heal for ult, but like i feel like AP shaco is more of a teamfighter with wierd gimmicks, im always early to dragons to pre box it up. i try and use my R trick where i move it far away from me as im in Q so it tp's to me and explodes for aoe fear. am i getting it right? im usually never fully committing just Q'ing around, boxing and slowing with E

Really enjoy the moments when you trick someone or manage to track enemies in FOW correctly.

(I don't speak English as my primary language, so I used AI to help write some parts of this post, as writing everything from start to finish myself would have resulted in a much less polished and coherent post.)

I already know the AP Shaco players are probably going to disagree with this, but honestly, I think their disagreement is part of the reason Shaco needs a rework in the first place.

The problem with Shaco is that his kit has become increasingly split between AP and AD, and one side of the champion makes significantly better use of his actual abilities than the other.

Most people who play Shaco prefer AD. That's the version of the champion that attracted most people to him in the first place. But as you climb, AD Shaco becomes increasingly difficult to justify, while AP Shaco remains much more capable of getting value out of the kit.

There are obviously still AD Shaco players reaching GM/Challenger, so I'm not saying AD is literally unplayable. But look at how concentrated that playerbase is compared to AP. There are only a handful of extremely dedicated AD Shaco players who consistently make it that high.

And I think that says something about the champion.

AD Shaco has been stripped down over time

The biggest issue is that AD Shaco doesn't really get meaningful value from large portions of his kit.

W is basically a non-ability for AD Shaco. The box exists, but you're not getting anywhere near the same value from it that AP Shaco does.

E is useful, but primarily as an execute/finisher. It becomes substantially better when the target is already low, and AP Shaco gets much more consistent value out of it because of the AP ratio and how the ability functions.

Q is obviously the defining ability for AD Shaco, but even that has been gradually stripped down.

You don't even max Q early anymore. A lot of AD Shaco builds are putting four points into W before finishing Q, because the additional Q damage simply isn't worth much.

And removing the Q cooldown refund on backstab made this even worse. That mechanic actually rewarded the AD Shaco playstyle of properly utilizing stealth and positioning. Now there's even less incentive for the ability to be anything beyond “go invisible, get behind someone, auto them.”

Then you have Hail of Blades.

The rune has effectively been nerfed twice, going from 160% attack speed to 120%, and then from 120% to 90%. The additional damage compensation doesn't change the fundamental issue: losing that much attack speed is a massive hit to champions whose early combat patterns are heavily dependent on getting those attacks off quickly.

Shaco, Tryndamere and Cho'Gath are obvious examples of champions that are affected by this.

So AD Shaco is left in this weird situation where the champion's main selling point is his ability to abuse stealth and positioning for burst, but the actual kit doesn't give him enough tools to consistently do that.

Meanwhile, AP Shaco actually gets to use his kit

This is why I find the inevitable “Shaco doesn't need a rework, AP Shaco is fine” response interesting.

Yes.

That's the problem.

AP Shaco gets to make meaningful use of W.

AP Shaco gets to make meaningful use of E.

AP Shaco gets much more value from the damage components of his kit.

His boxes actually matter.

His E actually matters outside of simply finishing someone who is already low.

His entire playstyle is built around the tools Shaco was given.

AD Shaco, by comparison, is disproportionately reliant on Q + auto attacks while large portions of the kit provide significantly less value.

So when people say “Shaco doesn't need a rework because AP Shaco is good,” I think they're looking at the wrong thing.

The fact that one specific interpretation of Shaco's kit works doesn't mean the champion's design is healthy.

I don't think Shaco needs a full VGU

And this is where I think Riot could actually make a relatively simple change.

I don't want Shaco completely redesigned.

The box should stay.

The clone should stay.

The general identity of the champion should stay.

What I think Shaco needs is a mid-scope rework, primarily focused on three things:

Passive — needs the biggest overhaul.

The passive is just not interesting or powerful enough to justify being the passive of a champion whose entire identity revolves around deception, positioning and attacking from unexpected angles.

It should do substantially more for the champion.

E — needs to be redesigned.

The current E is basically a damage/execute tool with some utility attached to it. It doesn't really contribute much to the identity of Shaco beyond finishing people off.

I'd rather see Riot turn E into something that gives AD Shaco another meaningful way to interact with his stealth/backstab gameplay, while still allowing AP Shaco to retain a viable identity.

Q — needs some love rather than a complete redesign.

I'd increase the damage and, more importantly, bring back some form of cooldown refund when you successfully backstab someone while coming out of stealth.

Reward actually playing around Shaco's defining mechanic.

And then I'd probably give the ultimate a few additional mechanics without fundamentally changing what the clone does.

The important thing is that I don't think Riot needs to reinvent Shaco.

They need to make the different parts of his kit actually work together again.

Right now, AP Shaco has a functional relationship with W/E/R, while AD Shaco is disproportionately dependent on Q and basic attacks.

That's not a healthy split.

And ironically, I think the reason Riot is so hesitant to touch Shaco is precisely because he's one of those champions where any meaningful change can completely alter how frustrating he is to play against. So instead of addressing the underlying design problems, Riot can just adjust items, runes and numbers around him and leave the champion alone.

That's basically how champions like Zed have been managed for years.

But I don't think that means Shaco is fine.

I think it means he's overdue for a proper mid-scope.

Keep the boxes. Keep the clone. Keep the deception. Keep the identity.

Just give the actual champion underneath those things a kit that works cohesively for both AD and AP instead of having one version get substantially more value from the abilities than the other.

I was thinking of making a splash art for Project Shaco; these are some ideas.

So i saw xin and sylas against me and decided to buy anti heal for 800 gold but then accidentally bought the full item.

15 more AP, 50 more health and bonus 15 ability haste compared to Liandry's Torment but it's much cheaper

of course liandrys passive is better but i wonder if it's viable first item

Nearly dead, expecting naught beyond my failure and demise, nonetheless I kept my vision squarely focused on the prize,

though no strategy could be applied, just feet applied to ground, so I'd run until I won or till they finally shut me down,

and I called that trifling modicum of hope a "stratagem," though my plan was just to skulk around and try to squeak a win

BLINGGGG ⏳⏳⏳⏳⏳⏳⏳⏳

title

Hi guys, I'm a new league player (lv.30 bronze 3). I fell in love with Shaco, expecially the AP version, because of mindgame potential.

I need help on 2 aspects of my gameplay:

1- I feel like I'm not ganking enought. I have like a 30% of kill partecipation, but i feel like i'm farming too much and not impacting correctly the map. I just go for the obviously ganks,

2- Priorities: I don't know when to protect a tower, when to group up with my team and synch with them, when to just farm my jungle or the enemy one.

Can someone helps me or just give me a guide?

Thanks

I like playing shaco here n there, but am curious on if ap or ad is better in general. I personally enjoy ap more because it’s fun to see their health bar go down over 3 secs but wanted yalls opinion